Stefano Mancuso: The roots of plant intelligence

翻译人员: Fengqiao Liu 校对人员: xiang fei

Sometimes I go browsing

以前，在浏览

[through] a very old magazine.

一本很旧的杂志时，

I found this observation test

我发现了这个

about the story of the ark.

有关“诺亚方舟故事”的观察测验。

And the artist that drew this observation test

绘制这幅图片的作者

did some errors, had some mistakes --

设置了一些错误，

there are more or less 12 mistakes.

大概共有12个，

Some of them are very easy.

其中有一些很容易发现。

There is a funnel, an aerial part,

在方舟上，有一个烟囱，一段天线，

a lamp and clockwork key on the ark.

一盏灯和一把时钟装置钥匙。

Some of them are about the animals, the number.

其中的一些是有关动物数量的。

But there is a much more fundamental mistake

但是，这里有一个

in the overall story of the ark

关于诺也方舟故事更根本性、

that's not reported here.

却没有提出来的问题：

And this problem is: where are the plants?

植物在哪里？

So now we have God

现在，上帝

that is going to submerge Earth permanently

准备永远地淹没地球，

or at least for a very long period,

或者至少要淹没很长一段时间，

and no one is taking care of plants.

而却没有人照管植物。

Noah needed to take two of every kind of bird,

对每种鸟类、

of every kind of animal,

每种动物、

of every kind of creature that moves,

每种会动的生物，诺亚都要挽救两只，

but no mention about plants.

却直口不提植物。

Why?

为什么？

In another part of the same story,

这个故事的另一部分，

all the living creatures

所有活着的生物

are just the living creatures

都只是

that came out from the ark,

从方舟上下来的，

so birds, livestock and wild animals.

因此有鸟类、牲畜和野生动物。

Plants are not living creatures --

没有植物。

this is the point.

这就是问题所在。

That is a point that is not

这一点从没有

coming out from the Bible,

在圣经中提及，

but it's something that

然而，植物

really accompanied humanity.

却自始至终伴随着人类的发展。

Let's have a look at this nice code

这个漂亮的密码

that is coming from a Renaissance book.

来自于文艺复兴时期时的一本书，

Here we have the description

是关于

of the order of nature.

自然等级的描述。

It's a nice description because it's starting from left --

这个描述很贴切，因为它从左侧开始——

you have the stones --

左侧是石头——

immediately after the stones, the plants

紧随其后的是

that are just able to live.

仅仅具有生命的植物。

We have the animals that are able to live and to sense,

之后，是既有生命又能感知的动物；

and on the top of the pyramid,

在金字塔的顶端，

there is the man.

是人。

This is not the common man.

这不是普通人，

The "Homo studiosus" -- the studying man.

而是“智人”——读书人。

This is quite comforting

这令

for people like me -- I'm a professor --

像我这样的人——我是一名教授——颇感欣慰，

this to be over there on the top of creation.

我们位于世界万物的顶端。

But it's something completely wrong.

但是，这完全错了。

You know very well about professors.

你确实对教授非常了解。

But it's also wrong about plants,

但对植物来说，你仍然错了。

because plants are not just able to live;

它们不仅具有生命，

they are able to sense.

它们也能够感知。

They are much more sophisticated

在感知方面，

in sensing than animals.

它们比动物更加高级。

Just to give you an example,

举个例子，

every single root apex

任何一个根端

is able to detect and to monitor

都能够

concurrently and continuously

同时且持续地

at least 15 different chemical

感知并检测至少15种不同的化学

and physical parameters.

和物理参数。

And they also are able to show and to exhibit

此外，它们也能表现出

such a wonderful and complex behavior

令人赞叹且复杂的行为；

that can be described just with the term of intelligence.

如此行为非“智能”不能描述。

Well, but this is something --

不过，这一点——

this underestimation of plants is something

对植物的低估——

that is always with us.

一直都伴随着我们。

Let's have a look at this short movie now.

现在，我们来看个短片。

We have David Attenborough.

此人是大卫·阿滕伯勒，

Now David Attenborough is really a plant lover;

一位真正的植物爱好者。

he did some of the most beautiful movies

他制作了一些

about plant behavior.

有关植物行为的最美的影片。

Now, when he speaks about plants,

现在，当他谈论到植物时，

everything is correct.

所有一切都没有问题。

When he speaks about animals,

当他谈到动物时，

[he] tends to remove the fact

却往往倾向于

that plants exist.

认为植物不复存在了。

The blue whale,

蓝鲸

the biggest creature that exists on the planet --

是地球上最大的生物。

that is wrong, completely wrong.

那是错误的，是完全错误的。

The blue whale, it's a dwarf

在巨大的加州红杉面前，

if compared with the real biggest creature

蓝鲸立刻变成了侏儒。

that exists on the planet --

加州红杉

that is, this wonderful,

才真正是

magnificent Sequoiadendron giganteum.

地球上最大的生物。

(Applause)

（掌声）

And this is a living organism

一棵活的加州红杉

that has a mass of at least 2,000 tons.

至少重达2,000吨。

Now, the story

事实上，

that plants are some low-level organisms

在很久很久以前，

has been formalized

植物是低等生物的观点

many times ago by Aristotle,

就已经出现在亚里士多德的

that in "De Anima" --

《论灵魂》中了。

that is a very influential book for the Western civilization --

《论灵魂》一书对西方文明有着深远的影响。

wrote that the plants are on the edge

在书中，亚里士多德认为植物

between living and not living.

介于生命与非生命状态之间。

They have just a kind of very low-level soul.

它们不过是非常低级的灵魂，

It's called the vegetative soul,

我们姑且称之为植物灵魂。

because they lack movement,

因为它们不动，

and so they don't need to sense.

因此它们也不需要感知。

Let's see.

可事实又如何呢？

Okay, some of the movements of the plants are very well-known.

不错，众所周知，一些植物是可以运动的。

This is a very fast movement.

这是非常快速的运动。

This is a Dionaea, a Venus fly trap

这是捕蝇草，一株正在

hunting snails --

捕食蜗牛的捕蝇草。

sorry for the snail.

对不起了，蜗牛老弟。

This has been something that has been refused for centuries,

虽然证据确凿，数个世纪以来，人们

despite the evidence.

一直拒绝承认这一事实。

No one can say that the plants were able to eat an animal,

没有人敢说植物可以吃动物，

because it was against the order of nature.

因为这有悖于自然等级（规律）。

But plants are also able

但植物还可以

to show a lot of movement.

表现出很多种运动。

Some of them are very well known, like the flowering.

其中一些是人所共知的，比如开花。

It's just a question to use some techniques

不过，这需要借助一些技术才能看到，

like the time lapse.

比如快速播放。

Some of them are much more sophisticated.

而另外一些则非常高级。

Look at this young bean

请看这棵新生的豆子，

that is moving to catch the light every time.

它时刻移动着去追寻阳光。

And it's really so graceful;

它如此优雅，

it's like a dancing angel.

宛若一位翩翩起舞的天使。

They are also able to play --

它们也玩耍，

they are really playing.

它们真的会玩耍。

These are young sunflowers,

这些是向日葵幼苗，

and what they are doing

它们的行为

cannot be described

除非“玩耍”

with any other terms than playing.

不能形容。

They are training themselves,

像许多年幼的动物一样，

as many young animals do,

这些向日葵也要不断的训练自己，

to the adult life

直到成年；

where they will be called to track the sun

那时，它们要日日追随太阳

all the day.

的方向。

They are able to respond to gravity, of course,

当然，它们也对地球引力做出回应。

so the shoots are growing

所有幼苗

against the vector of gravity

朝着反地球引力方向向上生长，

and the roots toward the vector of gravity.

而根系则朝着引力方向向下延伸。

But they are also able to sleep.

植物也会睡觉。

This is one, Mimosa pudica.

这是种含羞草。

So during the night,

夜里，

they curl the leaves

它们卷起叶片，

and reduce the movement,

减少运动；

and during the day, you have the opening of the leaves --

天亮后，它们就舒展叶片——

there is much more movement.

还有很多很多植物运动的例子。

This is interesting

这非常有趣，

because this sleeping machinery,

因为这种睡眠机制

it's perfectly conserved.

被完美地保存了下来，

It's the same in plants, in insects

在植物、昆虫

and in animals.

和动物中，毫无差别。

And so if you need to study this sleeping problem,

如果你需要研究睡眠问题，

it's easy to study on plants, for example,

研究植物

than in animals

比研究动物要更容易；

and it's much more easy even ethically.

甚至从伦理角度来看，也更可行。

It's a kind of vegetarian

这是植物

experimentation.

实验。

Plants are even able to communicate --

植物也能够彼此交流，

they are extraordinary communicators.

它们是非常出色的交流者。

They communicate with other plants.

它们和其他植物交流，

They are able to distinguish kin and non-kin.

并能够辨识出亲子植物与非亲子植物。

They communicate

它们与

with plants of other species

植物交流，也与其他物种交流。

and they communicate with animals

比如，在传粉期间，

by producing chemical volatiles,

通过产生挥发性化合物，

for example, during the pollination.

它们与动物进行交流。

Now with the pollination, it's a very serious issue for plants,

传粉对植物来说是个非常严肃的问题，

because they move the pollen from one flower to the other,

因为它们要将花粉从一朵花传到另一朵花上，

yet they cannot move from one flower to the other.

而它们自己却无法从一朵花移动到另一朵花。

So they need a vector --

因此，它们需要一个媒介，

and this vector,

而这个媒介

it's normally an animal.

通常是动物。

Many insects

许多昆虫

have been used by plants as vectors

是植物

for the transport of the pollination,

传粉的媒介，

but not just insects; even birds, reptiles,

但传粉媒介又不限于昆虫；甚至鸟、爬行动物

and mammals like bats rats

以及哺乳动物，如老鼠和兔子，

are normally used for the transportation of the pollen.

都可以帮植物传播花粉。

This is a serious business.

这是一项严肃的“生意”。

We have the plants that are giving to the animals

有些植物为动物提供

a kind of sweet substance --

一种甘甜的物质——

very energizing --

富含高能量——

having in change this transportation of the pollen.

作为其传份的报偿。

But some plants are manipulating animals,

然而，有些植物则欺骗动物，

like in the case of orchids

比如，有些兰花，

that promise sex and nectar

佯装可以（与传粉昆虫）发生性关系并提供花蜜，

and give in change nothing

而帮其传粉的昆虫

for the transportation of the pollen.

最终得不到任何好处。

Now, there is a big problem

现在，

behind all this behavior that we have seen.

在所有我们看到的这些行为背后，隐藏着一个重大的问题。

How is it possible to do this without a brain?

没有大脑，如何能够实现这一切？

We need to wait until 1880,

直到1880年，

when this big man,

伟大的

Charles Darwin,

查尔斯·达尔文

publishes a wonderful, astonishing book

发表了一部叹为观止、震惊世人的著作，

that starts a revolution.

从此开启了一场革命。

The title is "The Power of Movement in Plants."

书的名字叫《植物运动的力量》。

No one was allowed to speak about movement in plants

在查尔斯·达尔文之前，没有人敢谈论

before Charles Darwin.

植物的运动。

In his book,

本书

assisted by his son, Francis --

是在他儿子弗朗西斯的协助下完成的。

who was the first professor of plant physiology in the world, in Cambridge --

弗朗西斯是世界上第一位植物生理学教授，曾任职于剑桥大学。

they took into consideration every single movement

在书中，他们用了500页，考虑了

for 500 pages.

植物的每一个运动。

And in the last paragraph of the book,

本书的最后一段，

it's a kind of stylistic mark,

应该算是文体标记。

because normally Charles Darwin stored,

因为，通常来说，查尔斯·达尔文都是

in the last paragraph of a book,

在一本书的最后一段写下

the most important message.

最重要的信息。

He wrote that,

他写道，

"It's hardly an exaggeration

“说

to say that the tip of the radical

根尖相当于

acts like the brain

低等动物的大脑

of one of the lower animals."

并不夸张”。

This is not a metaphor.

这并非比喻。

He wrote some very interesting letters to one of his friends

他曾写过一些非常有趣的信笺给他的朋友

who was J.D. Hooker, or at that time, president of the Royal Society,

J.D.胡克讨论植物大脑的问题。

so the maximum scientific authority in Britain

那时，胡可是皇家学院的主席，

speaking about the brain in the plants.

也就是英国科学的最高权威。

Now, this is a root apex

现在，这是

growing against a slope.

倚斜坡生长的根端。

So you can recognize this kind of movement,

容易看出，这种运动

the same movement that worms, snakes

与蠕虫、蛇

and every animal

和所有其他

that are moving on the ground without legs

没有脚、在地上蠕动的动物相比

is able to display.

没有差别。

And it's not an easy movement

这种运动并不容易，

because, to have this kind of movement,

因为这

you need to move different regions of the root

要求根的不同区域都要运动，

and to synchronize these different regions

并且在没有大脑控制的情况下，

without having a brain.

完成这些区域的协同运动。

So we studied the root apex

因此，我们研究了根端，

and we found that there is a specific region

并发现了一个特殊区域，

that is here, depicted in blue --

即蓝色标记的部分——

that is called the "transition zone."

我们姑且称之为过渡区。

And this region, it's a very small region --

这个区域非常之小，

it's less than one millimeter.

长度不足1毫米。

And in this small region

但它却是

you have the highest consumption

植物中耗氧最高

of oxygen in the plants

的区域。

and more important,

更重要的是，

you have these kinds of signals here.

各种信号都产生于此。

The signals that you are seeing here are action potential,

你所见的这些信号是动作电势，

are the same signals

这与

that the neurons of my brain, of our brain,

我大脑、我们大脑中的神经元

use to exchange information.

用来进行信息交换的信号相同。

Now we know that a root apex

现在我们知道，一个根端

has just a few hundred cells

只有几百个

that show this kind of feature,

具有此种特征的细胞，

but we know how big

但我们更知道，

the root apparatus of a small plant, like a plant of rye.

一小株植物，比如一棵黑麦，

We have almost

有多么庞大数量的根端——

14 million roots.

差不多14,000,000个根。

We have 11 and a half million

因此，共有11,500,000个

root apex

根端，

and a total length of 600 or more kilometers

其总长度达到甚至超过600公里，

and a very high surface area.

同时具有巨大的表面积。

Now let's imagine

我们假想

that each single root apex

每一个根端

is working in network with all the others.

都与所有其他的根端在网络中一起工作。

Here were have on the left, the Internet

这里，左侧是英特网，

and on the right, the root apparatus.

右侧是根组织。

They work in the same way.

它们有着相同的工作方式。

They are a network

它们都是由

of small computing machines,

小的计算机构成的网络，

working in networks.

并在网络中工作。

And why are they so similar?

为什么它们会如此相似？

Because they evolved

因为它们有着

for the same reason:

相同的进化原因：

to survive predation.

在捕食中生存下来。

They work in the same way.

它们的工作方式一致。

So you can remove 90 percent of the root apparatus

因此，你可以去除90%的根组织，

and the plants [continue] to work.

而植物依旧可以存活；

You can remove 90 percent of the Internet

你也可以出去90%的因特网，

and it is [continuing] to work.

它也仍然能够工作。

So, a suggestion

由此，

for the people working with networks:

对于和网络打交道的人，这里有一个建议：

plants are able

植物可以

to give you good suggestions

对如何实现网络进化

about how to evolve networks.

提供不错的建议。

And another possibility

另外一个可能性

is a technological possibility.

是技术方面的。

Let's imagine

我们假想，

that we can build robots

有一天，我们可以

and robots that are inspired by plants.

受植物的启发而制造出机器人。

Until now,

到目前为止，

the man was inspired

人们制造机器人

just by man or the animals

的灵感仅仅来自与人

in producing a robot.

或动物。

We have the animaloid --

我们有动物机器人——

and the normal robots inspired by animals,

受动物启发而制造的机器人，

insectoid, so on.

昆虫机器人，等等。

We have the androids

我们也有受人启发

that are inspired by man.

而制造的人形机器人。

But why have we not any plantoid?

但是，为什么没有植物机器人？

Well, if you want to fly,

是的，如果你想飞，

it's good that you look at birds --

你应该观察鸟类，

to be inspired by birds.

受鸟类的启发。

But if you want to explore soils,

但如果你想探察土壤，

or if you want to colonize

或在一个

new territory,

新的地区定居，

to best thing that you can do is to be inspired by plants

那你最好是跟植物学习，

that are masters in doing this.

因为植物深谙此道。

We have another possibility

在我们实验室，另外一个可能性

we are working [on] in our lab,

是制造

[which] is to build hybrids.

“杂交体”。

It's much more easy to build hybrids.

制造杂交体比制造机器人更容易得多。

Hybrid means it's something

杂交体是指

that's half living and half machine.

一半具有生命，而另一半是机器。

It's much more easy to work with plants

与动物相比，用植物做实验

than with animals.

容易得多。

They have computing power,

植物有计算力，

they have electrical signals.

也有电子信号，

The connection with the machine is much more easy,

因此，植物与机器的连结更加容易，

much more even ethically possible.

甚至在伦理上也更可行。

And these are three possibilities

目前，我们

that we are working on

制造

to build hybrids,

杂交体的三种可能包括：

driven by algae

用藻类，

or by the leaves at the end,

用叶片

by the most, most powerful parts of the plants,

以及用植物最强大的部分——

by the roots.

根系。

Well, thank you for your attention.

谢谢大家！

And before I finish,

在结束演讲前，

I would like to reassure that no snails were harmed

我想再次申明，并没有蜗牛因

in making this presentation.

此次演讲而受到伤害。

Thank you.

谢谢！

(Applause)

（掌声）